Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

A decent first step into the TRPG pond. While it lacks the serious tone and depth required for a diehard RPG lover, fans of the series and those looking for a laid-back comedy story will have lots of fun.

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Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart is a chibi-style strategy RPG where players collect and lead an army of game-referencing characters in turn-based battles. The "Lily System" allows characters to bond and unlock special abilities, while high definition visuals and challenging trap-filled maps make for a robust gaming experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 383 reviews

story47 positive mentions

grinding36 negative mentions

The game features my favorite character, Noire, as the main protagonist, which adds a personal touch for fans.
The tactical gameplay is engaging and offers a unique spin on the Neptunia formula, making it enjoyable for strategy RPG fans.
The character interactions and humor are consistent with the Neptunia series, providing a fun and lighthearted experience.

The lack of cloud saves is frustrating, leading to potential loss of progress if the game crashes or the save file gets corrupted.
The gameplay can feel repetitive and grindy, especially with the need to raise Lily ranks for character interactions.
The AI and map design can be frustrating, as enemies often do not react strategically, making battles less challenging and engaging.

story
179 mentions
26 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The story in this game is generally viewed as typical for the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, featuring familiar themes and character interactions, but it often feels repetitive and lacks depth, with many players noting a structure that relies heavily on filler content. While some appreciate the humor and character dynamics, others criticize the plot for being unoriginal and the pacing for being slow, particularly in the context of grinding and mission repetition. Overall, the narrative is seen as serviceable but not exceptional, appealing mainly to dedicated fans of the franchise.
- “The story is full of cute moments and funny dialogue (typical waifu stuff).”
- “Great game with a lovely story.”
- “The story is a unique take on the series and I personally really like the battle system but I feel like it's too slow sometimes.”
- “When you think about how the story goes after the first few parts, it essentially becomes 'go to this place, talk to the general there, have a scuffle of some kind, the general joins you.' It's like that for the majority of the story, and honestly, a lot of it feels like filler.”
- “The self-insert was too off, and the story just seemed odd; no explanation about the new characters from the start, we don't really know and we get frustrated.”
- “The story is pretty typical of the Neptunia series with saving the world and all that.”
gameplay
110 mentions
25 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Hyperdevotion Noire" has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its strategic elements and mechanics reminiscent of titles like Fire Emblem and Disgaea, while others criticize it for being slow-paced, repetitive, and lacking depth. Technical issues, such as crashes and poor map design, further detract from the experience, leading to a general sentiment that, despite its potential, the gameplay falls short of expectations. Overall, while some find enjoyment in the mechanics and character interactions, many feel the game is marred by unbalanced characters and frustrating design choices.
- “I really love the variety and mechanics in the map designs, though some stages do drag on for too long and some characters are not well balanced, with some being clearly inferior while others are broken to the high heavens.”
- “As it turns out, it was actually enjoyable and now I am going to 100% the whole game because I really enjoyed the gameplay and the characters as well... I recommend getting this game and trying it out for yourself.”
- “Gameplay is interesting and although slow-paced, it's enjoyable.”
- “My gameplay experience was marred by recurrent crashes, particularly during crucial moments like cutscenes before or after battles.”
- “The main issue in this game is on the gameplay mechanics that are poorly implemented and I didn't really enjoy.”
- “It's a strategy RPG marred by a lot of strange gameplay decisions.”
grinding
37 mentions
3 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
97 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized, with many players finding it excessively tedious and repetitive, particularly when aiming for 100% completion. Achievements and side tasks often require significant time investment, leading to frustration, especially in a turn-based strategy context where gameplay can feel slow and drawn out. While some players enjoy the grind typical of the Neptunia series, others feel it detracts from the overall experience, making it more suitable for dedicated fans rather than casual players.
- “Besides that, the achievements in this game are more grindy than usual, and considering the tactical style of gameplay, despite having completed a lot of other Neptunia games, I don't feel the motivation to play to 100% and probably never will.”
- “Personally, I don't mind having to grind in most RPG games or in most other Hyperdimension games to an extent, but just the idea of having to constantly grind and replay the same missions in a slow-paced turn-based strategy game just to earn 100% achievement completion or bypass certain grind walls feels mind-numbingly tedious.”
- “The grinding is real in this game if you want to 100% the achievement list, and those wishing to complete the game fully might have a bad time grinding.”
humor
32 mentions
97 % positive mentions
-6 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely appreciated by fans of the Neptunia series, characterized by its formulaic anime-style jokes, self-parodying characters, and funny dialogue. While many find the interactions and voice acting, particularly by Melissa Fahn as Neptune, to be highlights, some reviewers note that the humor can become repetitive and frustrating over time. Overall, the game maintains the series' charm with cute moments and comedic elements, though opinions vary on its effectiveness compared to previous titles.
- “I would recommend it for Neptunia fans or anyone who likes the formulaic anime-style humor and characters.”
- “What pulls me in is the interaction between the girls and the funny dialogues.”
- “This game is great; it's funny like all the Neptunia games are, and the chibi forms of all the goddesses are so dang cute!”
- “Some achievements were not funny.”
- “The jokes fell flat and felt forced.”
- “I expected more clever humor, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
music
22 mentions
41 % positive mentions
45 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising the quality of the soundtrack while noting that it heavily recycles tracks from previous entries in the franchise. However, several players expressed disappointment with the mixing, citing issues such as abrupt looping and jarring transitions that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the music is generally well-liked, its execution leaves room for improvement.
- “Super Neptunia RPG was pretty awful in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed it because the art and the music were great, especially the music. I was reviewing the music on YouTube and I was like wow, this is better than the newer Neptunia games I've been playing, even better than the Ninja Wars game!”
- “Great game and love the soundtrack.”
- “The soundtracks and effects are perfect for the game.”
- “The music was not cut to loop seamlessly - it's just a jarring stop and start over.”
- “Most of the soundtrack is reused from previous games; though not a problem for newcomers, fans might feel a bit disappointed.”
- “The music does not loop well, so it'll just restart abruptly in the middle of basically anything.”
graphics
21 mentions
24 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some praising the charming chibi art style and its appeal to anime fans, while others criticize it for being outdated and lacking quality. Although the character designs are considered cute and engaging, many players have reported issues with graphical lag and performance, particularly on higher-end systems. Overall, the graphics are seen as above-average but not groundbreaking, making them a divisive aspect of the game.
- “The character graphics in this game are as interesting as the Neptunia Rebirth 1 game, because they both have clear and charming image quality and really spoil the eyes of anime fans.”
- “Hyperdevotion has one of the biggest changes to the art style in the whole series and honestly it's not bad.”
- “+ Cute and awesome graphics with a good soundtrack.”
- “With annoying, tedious gameplay and graphics 4 generations out of style, this is for super fans only.”
- “1/5 the chibi art style makes the game look like sh*t.”
- “I have so many problems with this game and I constantly see graphic lag in-game.”
stability
9 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Players have experienced issues such as getting stuck in menus, enemies failing to move, and frequent freezing during battles, leading many to deem the game unplayable in its current state. Overall, the consensus is that the game is plagued by stability problems that detract from the overall experience.
- “The game still crashes and freezes.”
- “I do not believe this game should be sold in its buggy state.”
- “The PS Vita version of this game was notorious for being plagued with game-breaking bugs and glitches, many of which resulted in crashes and other nonsense that made the game almost unplayable.”
optimization
5 mentions
40 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is generally poor, with reports of inconsistent frame rates around 28-30fps, frequent stuttering, and occasional crashes linked to memory access issues. While some users note that it is a "super optimized ported game," the overall performance remains problematic, often requiring restarts to resolve sound and performance drops.
- “The game is a super optimized ported game.”
- “It does run at a weird 28fps, so yeah, a lot of stuttering and there is no way to fix this or improve the framerate to 60.”
- “Occasional crashing when selecting the disc development option due to a denied memory access bug, sudden sound disappearances followed by performance drops fixed only by restarting the game.”
- “Performance: well, it runs at a locked 30fps but we all know where to go to unlock it.”
character development
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Character development in the game series is criticized for being minimal and unengaging, with some reviewers noting that while character designs, particularly Neptune's, are appealing, they do not contribute to a compelling narrative or character growth. Overall, the lack of depth in character development detracts from the overall experience.
- “Neptune's character design was more attractive as the main character, leading the company to choose her for most of the Neptune game series.”
- “The character designs are cute and adorable.”
- “The jokes are stale and character development is non-existent.”
- “It's not just the character development; the main plot is also not interesting to me.”
replayability
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers significant replayability through extra map boards and missions that provide changing rewards, encouraging players to revisit content and level up characters. However, some users feel that there is limited replay value in certain aspects of the game.
- “No replay value.”
- “Plenty of replay value trying to clear the extra map boards.”
- “+ They have replayable missions with rewards that change from the first time you beat them, giving you a reason to do it again (and a way to grind up any characters who may have lagged behind).”
emotional
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users find the emotional aspect of the game to be heartwarming, particularly appreciating the noir simulation section, despite acknowledging the low production value. Overall, the emotional engagement seems to exceed initial expectations.
- “+ The noir sim section was a very nice touch and in some way heartwarming, although...”